InDesign Publish Online suddenly not displaying images

Report · Nov 07, 2023

Hi there,

I've updated one of my Publish Online documents and suddenly all the images have stopped displaying. Luckily I didn't overwrite it, so I can show the differences.

Old version (working):
[pii removed by moderator]

Updated version (Not working):
[pii removed by moderator]

I've packaged the files and put them here:

The updated version
[pii removed by moderator]
The Old version that used to work
[pii removed by moderator]

Unfortunately, even go back to my backups still creates broken images in publish online and I really can't figure out what has changed.

The images are embedded into the InDesign document.

I have tried replacing the images and they still don't work. I've tried moving it over into a fresh document and it doesn't work.

I've tried going back to the backup I kept of when it did work, but when I do a new publish online the images are suddenly broken now.

I've tried republishing on multiple versions of InDesign and it doesn't change anything.

I'm using high display performance so thats not the issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I honestly have no idea why everything has stopped working.

Many thanks.

Report · Nov 07, 2023

I just posted a very similar post and I saw a third user post as well. This must be something on Adobe's end. Hopefully our posts will get the InDesign team's attention to look into the issue and resolve it for us.

Report · Nov 07, 2023

Thanks for the reply. I keep updating the publish online and everytime a different image is broken, sometimes all of them are broken and sometimes its just one. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

Report · Nov 07, 2023

I'm having the same issue as well. Definitely seems to be an issue on Adobe's end.

Report · Nov 07, 2023

I'm having the same problem right now. missing images showing up as empty white boxes.

Report · Nov 07, 2023

Everyone within my organization is having the same issue. Need to get this resolved asap.

Report · Nov 08, 2023

Thank you didn't know about this, I have posted the problem there now.

Report · Mar 12, 2025

I'm still having the same issue as you guys here in 2025, but I figured out a solution... sort of.

I ran 10 different "Update Existing Document" tests while publishing online - trying different image settings, playing with password/no password, embedding the images in the document, etc. None of them worked, and the images were still broken on the overwritten document. Tried everything I could think of.

Then, when I hopped onto an online chat with Adobe to resolve the issue, the problem magically stopped happening and I could update the same file again. It was frustrating because I couldn't replicate the issue for them! When I ended the chat, the first thing I did was try it again on my own, and of course, the issue continued again.

I tried a few more times, replicating the issue very consistently, and then when I got onto a live chat with Adobe support again, the issue stopped happening... again. It was clear at this point that there was something about establishing a connection with Adobe (tech support) that made it work. Sounds crazy, but it was too consistent for me to be a coincidence.

And, the tech couldn't articulate what was wrong either. Guess I'll just hop on an online chat next time I need to overwrite a document published online! If this comment is still up, I haven't found another way.